In German Pat. No. 2,056,069, there is disclosed a warship having a unit mounting or seating extending around an opening in a deck of the ship, with a unit platform mounted in the seating, a functional unit installation, such as a weapon or a navigational installation, arranged on the platform and a unit container carried by the platform beneath the platform and accommodating a part of the functional unit installation, the container extending downwardly beneath the ship's deck into the interior of the ship to a lower deck located beneath the above-mentioned ship's deck.
In the warship disclosed in the aforementioned German Pat. No. 2,056,069, the lower deck, to which the unitary container substantially extends in the interior of the ship, is located directly below the uppermost deck of the ship in which the seating and the platform are located. The container is connected to the structure of the ship only through the platform and the seating i.e., only by means of a peripheraly extending securing flange. The functional unit installation may comprise a weapon or a navigational antenna arranged on the top of the platform, the devices and circuitry required for the operation of the weapon or the navigational antenna being accommodated within the container.
It is also already known to build into a ship a vertical water-tight shaft extending through a plurality of decks to the inner bottom or hull of the ship, with a corresponding multi-storey functional unit accommodated in this shaft and fixedly connected, by a suitable mounting or seating, to the hull or inner bottom of the ship. This arrangement has the disadvantage that stresses acting on the bottom of the ship, e.g. as a result of grounding or a detonation (mines, torpedos, etc.), can be transmitted to the functional unit and the latter or the apparatuses and devices contained therein can thereby become damaged. Also, even if the functional unit itself or the apparatuses and devices contained therein is or are not damaged, there is a danger that the entire functional unit may be displaced and, consequently, that an undesired alteration of the plane of the seating of the functional unit installation may occur.
Furthermore, while in the prior art warship provided with the seating as disclosed in the aformentioned German Pat. No. 2,056,069, a satisfactory levelling of the functional unit installation with respect to the ship is ensured, the seating is however, subjected to heavy loads, in particular when this functional unit installation which may extend through several decks is very heavy, in which case substantial reinforcement of the ship's deck may be required.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved warship in which, as before, the plane of the seating of a functional unit installation arranged on a unit platform is accurately levelled with respect to the principal datum plane of the ship, while the platform and the seating bed, even when the functional unit installation has a heavy weight, are substantially relieved of loading without a risk of alteration of the plane of the seating when deformations occur in the interior of the ship.